Episode 178 / Austin Roebuck / The Coca-Cola Company / Senior Manager, Global Customer & Commercial Communications
Building ESG Storytelling Into Digital Marketing Strategies
Austin Roebuck has always been a fan of Coca-Cola, growing up in a house full of Coke memorabilia collected by his dad. He started his career thinking he would pursue politics, but soon realised this was not for him and luckily discovered and fell in love with marketing. Throughout his career, he’s developed a strong belief in a humility mindset and he combines that with the growing interest in ESG for his Shiny New Object.
Austin quotes C.S. Lewis to say that “humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” This is something he’s started to believe in more and more throughout his career. As he puts it, there’s more to life than just looking at how you can further your own career and look good in a corporate environment. Instead, by always focusing on bringing in the best people of the job and letting everyone have their spot in the limelight, Austin makes sure that they achieve what needs to be done.
This appreciation for humility combines with his interest in ESG for Austin’s Shiny New Object. After all, ESG is all about focusing on others rather than simply chasing a brand’s financial objectives. To explain the concept, E stands for “environment” and for activities that minimise the waste that a company produces, or its climate impact, focusing on responsible sources and transportation etc. The S stands for “society” – job creation, diversity, inclusion, internal training and development, respecting human rights etc. Finally, the G stands for “governance” which is all about having the auditing and accountability practices to make sure that a company follows all the principles it professes to do.
Focusing on ESG will naturally set brands apart in the near future, as they can weave their activity and ethos into storytelling that builds a unique proposition for the brand. And that becomes commercially important because, according to a Kantar study, by 2030, we will all be “eco consumers.” Therefore, being the brand of choice for eco-conscious buyers will involve two elements: maintaining and magnifying aspects of your ESG.
For Austin, maintaining is doing what everyone else is doing, sticking to the standard in the marketplace but doing it at a high level. Magnifying then is what truly differentiates a brand – picking one aspect that they build into their advertising and into all their brand communications. That can give you brand edge in the beginning, until the competition catches up and then you will need to evolve it.
Listen to Austin’s top marketing tips, how and why he values ESG for the future of marketing, and more, on the latest podcast episode
Transcript
The following gives you a good idea of what was said, but it’s not 100% accurate.
Tom Ollerton 0:07
Hello, and welcome to the Shiny New Object podcast. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative and this is a weekly show where I have the pleasure and the privilege of interviewing some of our industry's leaders about what they think the future of the industry has in store for us. And this week, I'm on a call with Austin Roebuck, who is customer communications and sustainability at the Coca Cola Company. Austin, for anyone who doesn't know you, can you give us a bit of a background on who you are and what you do.
Austin Roebuck 0:37
Hey, Tom, thanks for having me. It's so great to be with you. Big fan of the show. Yes. So my background, actually came out of university thinking I was going to work in politics. And what I realized really quickly was that it wasn't so much like the TV show House of Cards, and it was a lot more like a sort of school cafeteria food fight. And that that wasn't for me long term. So I got a weird opportunity to go do Government Relations at a major corporation Yamaha Motor Corporation, and for whatever reason, they situated their government relations department within their marketing department. And I've thought on that a lot of times how that happened, but I'm so glad it did, because it opened up a lot of doors for me. So for a while I was sort of this government relations, you can almost think lobbying type person. But over time, I was able to take on new responsibilities. And I was really able to branch out into that marketing world. And I realized a lot of these sort of values that we have in marketing of making your stakeholders feel special and heard and message to in just the right ways. I learned those skills in government relations, and I was able to apply them to marketing. And so I fell in love with the world of marketing, and really marketing communications. And the last bit of the story is that I've always been a huge Coca Cola fan, my dad was a Coca Cola glass bottle collector before I was born. So since I was a little kid, I just thought Coca Cola was cool. We had Coca Cola stuff in my house. And one day, sort of the recruiter reaches out, and I get an opportunity to go apply my skills at Coke. And that's how I got to where I am today.
Tom Ollerton 2:20
Wow, man, we have not had a story, a backstory, origin story that talks about Coke and politics before. So in that career, what has been that new belief or behavior that is had a big impact on your work life in your career?
Austin Roebuck 2:40
Yeah, so you know, coming from that sort of political mindset, it's really easy to transpose that to sort of the corporate world and to start seeing everything through a lens of office politics and sort of leveraging to get toward your place in your career that you want to get to. I studied Western philosophy in school. And Machiavelli maybe made a little bit too much sense to me, you know, if I'm just being honest, it was sort of this idea of how do we try and get what we want out of life? How do we seize the day. And you know, as I got older, as I, you know, had a family of my own, as I went through some life experiences, I realized that there was more to life and there was more to the value of people around me than just sort of trying to get, get what you wanted in your career, and it was never so... so intentionally thinking about how you're interacting with people, but just slowly a hardening of how you're thinking through things. And one day, I came across this quote that blew me away. And it was CS Lewis, who's sort of a English philosopher who lived during World War Two, he wrote about everything from war to love. A lot of people know him for the Chronicles of Narnia. He said that humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. And that sort of blew my mind. Because up until this point, I had always been thinking that humility basically meant saying, I'm not capable, I don't actually have skills that are bringing value, I need to always default to the other person. And that just didn't jive with me. But what I started to realize was no, this is actually, this is how you unlock servant leadership. And this is how you can turn around and just think of others more frequently than you're thinking about yourself. And since I unlocked that in my career, it's been a total night and day difference. I mean, everything from my attitude and my joy each day, when I'm getting up and coming into the office to actually how effective I am in the workplace and how effective my colleagues and teams around me are. It's really been a game changer. As I explored the quote a little more I found sort of a follow up quote that he's had. And he said basically that If you meet a humble man, he will be, he will not be what most people call humble nowadays, he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person who is always telling you that, of course he isn't nobody, probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap, who took a real interest in what you had to say. If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He won't be thinking about humility, he will not be thinking about himself at all. And I really think that's sort of a secret to happiness in life and career success that has just totally reframed my worldview over the last several years.
Tom Ollerton 5:41
Can I ask you to be specific about when you've applied that thinking? And what was the benefit? And how can you attribute it to that mindset shift?
Austin Roebuck 5:51
Yeah, absolutely. So Coca Cola, the company I work for, has gone through sort of an organizational shift in the last several years, where we now work in what's called a networked model. And so the value of a networked model is that it's less focused on sort of hierarchy and matrix and more on bringing the right people together at any given moment, to have an impact. And sort of this change in my mentality lined up with this change in our corporate structure at just the right moment. So working in a networked fashion really means that you're not focusing on job title, or, you know, next steps after a project, what you're focusing on, is having the Most High Power team you can possibly have at any given moment. So what I'm able to do now with this new mindset is come into a project and think about who are going to be the most valuable people to bring into this project. And I'm no longer threatened, right? I'm not thinking about my own career. And, gosh, what if I bring all these other people on who are going to get more credit than myself or project but instead, I'm thinking, who are going to be able to serve our key stakeholders in the best way, and bring them together and work in a way where we're just sort of all one team speaking at equal levels, some people are newer to the organization, some have been here for decades, and we're just able to partner to drive the work in one of the major shifts that I think we'll get into in a little bit has been trying to drive sustainability with our own organization, our suppliers, our customers, our consumers. And I don't think that a non networked way of working can really achieve that. But if you come in, and you're thinking of others, as more important than yourself, you're able to unlock a lot of potential and hear ideas in new ways that maybe otherwise you would have been resistant to.
Tom Ollerton 7:59
Well, that's a lovely quote, and thanks for bringing that to life. So I need you to move on away from philosophy a little and more practical now. So what I'd like to know is what is the marketing tip that you share most of and find yourself saying on regular intervals that made an impact on your career and others?
Austin Roebuck 8:20
Yeah, I think that the main tip, that's changed my work life has been that what gets measured gets done. That's something we've heard a lot. But often it's framed as if creativity is one side of the spectrum and measurement is the other side of the spectrum. And instead, this is saying that what gets measured fuels creativity. And so the idea there being that when you are looking at your operations metrics, and you're seeing certain areas that are underperforming, that's what should drive the creativity of your advertising, especially drive the creativity of your revenue growth, management of the way that you're going to market and really what your customer value proposition is. And that's actually what can fuel the creativity, as opposed to seeing them as sort of a hampering of how you can drive change.
Tom Ollerton 9:27
So we're roughly at the halfway stage now. So what we're gonna do is move on to your shiny new object. So what is your shiny object? How would you describe it? And why do you think it represents the future of the industry?
Austin Roebuck 9:42
Yeah, so my shiny new object is really ESG. It goes by a lot of different names. It can be corporate social responsibility, it can just be sustainability. But ESG really is the concept of environment, society and governance. And how those three interplay to really make a responsible business. And I think this is the future of our industry. Because Kantar has researched and shown that by 2030, more than half of all consumers are going to be what they call eco consumers. So these are people that when they're going to make purchases, they're specifically thinking about the ESG implications of the businesses they're working for. So for those who aren't familiar, the E is environment. And that's thinking through things like minimizing the waste that your company or products or producing climate impacts, responsible sourcing of inputs, responsible transportation of finished goods, deforestation, water pollution, things like that. The society element is around job creation, foundation giving diversity and inclusion, the training and development of your own employees, respecting privacy, respecting human rights. And then the governance is really about having the auditing and accountability capabilities in position to make sure that your corporation is living this out, stuff like anti bribery and transparency, best practices. And then even if you really want to get deep into the weeds that can be tying senior executive compensation to ESG performance.
Tom Ollerton 11:25
So one thing I'm really curious about is the Kantar fact that by 2030 we're all going to be, what was it? Was it sustainable shoppers, or what was the phrase you used?
Austin Roebuck 11:41
Yeah, it's called Eco consumers. This is from a Kantar report called "Who cares, Who does?" and they really, at a global level across many markets looked into what is driving consumer behavior. And they learned that concern for the environment is a huge element that's emerging in consumer purchase intent. And they estimate that over half of all consumers are going to be active, eco active eco consumers, by 2030.
Tom Ollerton 12:10
So the question I have, is that, is this going to be conscious? Or is this going to be table stakes?
Austin Roebuck 12:19
Yeah, so I think that consumers are going to gradually find themselves moving into this way of thinking, the idea being that this is the future, I was speaking to a senior level executive at a company that all of your listeners would be familiar with recently. And he said, Look, we're not going to do sustainability, just because it's what everybody else is doing. We'll only do it if it's what makes sense for our business. And at first I thought, okay, that's kind of like saying, we're only going to make money, we're not going to try and make money just because everyone else is trying to make money, because this really is the future. But then I thought more deeply on his point. And he's right, you don't do sustainability, you don't do just ESG, just like everyone else does it, it's not a cookie cutter thing. It's something you want to actually incorporate into your brand edge, and something to differentiate you in the marketplace. So the way consumers are gonna kind of start seeing this is one is going to be something that leading brands are just doing, and it's going to become sort of second hand, that is something they're experiencing in the marketplace, too. When you think about, for example, fast moving consumer goods, retailers are going to actually start pricing sustainability in their retail space, they're going to start giving favorable positioning in the grocery store, and in their advertising to these more sustainable brands. And so consumers are going to get to where this is just sort of a standard expectation. And then the final area would be ESG is an area where government is paying attention and government can even drive change at times. So as that conversation continues to move forward, more brands are going to sort of have their hand even forced to pay close attention to ESG.
Tom Ollerton 14:13
And this is why it makes me think this isn't marketing. Because if everyone's doing it, then it's not a point of difference to your point. It's if everyone's like, has, and thanks for going through all the different elements of what ESG could encompass. But if everyone's doing all of those things, then there's nothing to talk about. It becomes table stakes. So there are businesses now that are getting the PR value of leading with a you know an ESG strategy and it becomes marketing, but um, I don't see how it's going to be a point of difference if everyone's doing it, or am I missing the point?
Austin Roebuck 14:55
That's a great question, Tom. I actually do think that it's really an opportunity for marketing leaders to differentiate their brand and gain market share, sort of in the near term. So if you're saying that sort of every company is going to try and be a responsible corporate citizen, I do think that we're moving in that direction. And just simply being a responsible actor is not going to be enough to win in the marketplace. But you can kind of think that there's two elements to how this drives your marketing, there's sort of what you want to maintain, and what you want to magnify when it comes to ESG. So what you want to maintain is all the basics that you were just describing that everyone is doing this, everyone is trying to have less waste production, everyone is trying to be creative, less pollution, you know, that's not going to win in the marketplace. But you have to maintain that at a really high level, because it's going to be a risk potential if you don't, and it could hurt your brand reputation if you don't, but then there's what you want to magnify. And this is going to be specifically what differentiates your brand in the marketplace. So for example, if you want to tie your brand into really having diversity and inclusion in all of your advertising, that's going to be something that's going to win you brand edge, it's if you want to be the brand that is actively leading on sustainable packaging and new packages that consumers haven't seen before, that are better for the environment that's going to win you brand edge. And over time, the competition will continue and competitors will catch up. But this is something we're used to in the marketplace. And we'll have to continue to think how can we strive to be the most environmentally or societally friendly brands, and the environment for what our consumers are looking for. And the data will have to lead us to that. There's lots of great studies out there that are looking at what consumers want. And of course, each organization has their own internal research on what their consumers want, really finding this nexus of ESG what your consumers are looking for. And bringing that to life in the marketplace in a way that surprises and delights them, is going to have positive benefits to the marketing results you're looking for, like driving purchase intent.
So I was sat in a bar months ago, and it was a bar that was run by the beer company BrewDog. And I'm familiar with these guys, sort of very innovative brewer sort of last 20 years in the UK, and they're on all over the menu talking about the purpose of BrewDog forest and how the fact that they are net carbon positive, right, you know, so they're not neutral, whereas at the weekend, I was in a car where I was outside a bank or something that said, we're on the we're on the journey to, you know, to net neutral in 2030. And it made me think, is there going to be a point where the point of difference might be how, how net positive you are? Is there going to be this kind of showing off of brands that you know, we're net positive by 5%, or 10%? Because once everyone's net zero, then it kind of becomes nothing. So I'm curious, you know, do you think that it will go even further, will it become a competition between brands?
So I really see that there's kind of two types of brands that are that I'll hold up as, as options. Of course, there's lots of nuance here. But you can go sort of the Ben and Jerry's route, which is sort of a you know, well known Unilever ice cream brand, where they very much incorporated ESG into their very brand identity. Or you can go kind of more the Microsoft route. Now, when you think of Microsoft ESG is probably not the very first thing you think of, but they are really transforming their business model to where they're actually bringing products to the marketplace. They're going to help their business customers be more sustainable. They're publishing sustainability guides on how you can pivot your business to be more sustainable. And then they've also done all the things you're referencing, like having one of the most ambitious carbon reduction goals, they're going to be zero carbon by 2030, is their desire. And that's something that is really industry leading in many ways. So I think those are the two options that brands can go on. So yes, some brands will try and go, Well, we're at 10%, higher, you know, carbon reduction than the next brand, but I don't know that that's what is really going to resonate for the consumers maybe for certain products that that's right for them. Maybe for a brewery, for example, that would be a good fit. I think it's really going to be more that storytelling around impact, you know, showing how lives are being changed or communities are being impacted. After the planet is healthier through your activities, and then how that how you're doing that in a unique way that ties back to your business in particular. So you were talking about breweries, one of the brands that I've seen do this very well, is an organization called the Maine Beer Company, they've made award winning IPAs that some people say are the best IPAs in the world, have a really their entire brand identity is around sustainability and giving back to the community. And it's hard to think of that brand without those two assets. So I see it less as I'm giving back 4%, my metric's 4% more in this area than that area. I think that's important. You know, if you're thinking about a corporation and trying to bring in the best possible talent, if you're thinking about having credibility with external stakeholders, you're gonna want performance on the metrics. But really, it's the storytelling and tying that into how it's a unique proposition your brand is delivering, that's going to resonate most in the marketplace.
Tom Ollerton 21:06
Well, unfortunately, Austin, we're at the end of the podcast now. So what I'm gonna do is ask you, if anyone would like to get in touch with you about ESG, CS Lewis, or anything else you've talked about, how would you like them to do that? And where?
Austin Roebuck 21:23
Yeah, I think the best place is LinkedIn. I would love to continue this conversation with anyone who's listening on any of the topics we've discussed today, in particular, around ESG. You know, I'd love to share with you some of the value of finding NGO partners that can help vet this process, the value of running an enterprise risk assessment, and really even striving to be the person in your organization that is leading cross functional projects that can tie this into your brand and really make an impact in the marketplace. So find me on LinkedIn. You have all my information. I'd love to connect with you there.
Tom Ollerton 21:59
Austin, thank you so much.
Austin Roebuck 22:02
Thanks, Tom.
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